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I looked at her over the top of my mug. “I fell in love with Whitney Rose.”
I watched for her reaction, but she gave none. “Yeah, you fell in love with her when you were both silly teenagers running around this town. What did you do to make her lose her dinner and run out of here like her hair was on fire?”
My mouth opened, but it took a second for words to come out. “You knew I loved Whitney back in high school?”
Barb crossed her arms, sitting one hip on the counter. “Of course, I knew. Everyone paying attention knew. Frankly, everyone still knows you are in love with that girl.” Her no nonsense way of talking had always been refreshing, yet I still found myself surprised by what she said.
After getting a cup of coffee of her own, Barb rounded the counter so that she could sit next to me.
I swiveled my chair to get a better look at her.
When she got settled, she asked again, “What did you do to make her run out of here?”
This time I didn’t beat around the bush. “She found out that I was engaged to Katie Kooney.”
Barb pursed her lips. “That girl was always trouble.”
“ThatI learned the hard way.”
“I suppose you did.”
I went on to explain how Katie was one of the reasons why Whitney rushed out of Haver’s Creek after graduation.
Over two more cups of coffee, I explained everything that had happened between Whitney and myself since she’d crashed back into my life. Then I told her about why I got engaged to Katie in the first place.
Once I finished filling her in, she reached for my hand. “You need to sit that girl down and tell her how sorry you are for not telling her the truth. And then you need to be honest with her about everything. How much you loved her in high school. How much you’ve always loved her. And why you got engaged to Katie, but more importantly, why you ended it with Katie. If you are ever going to get through this, you need to start with a clean slate. The slate can only be clean if everything is first laid out on the table.”
I hung my head. “What if she doesn’t listen to me? She left town last time because of a misunderstanding.” Rubbing my hands through my scruff, I contemplated my next steps.
Barb lifted my chin. “You need to do something big to make sure she listens to you. You need her undivided attention so she can’t run off.”
I nodded, listening. Trying to come up with ideas of how to do just that.
And soon.
Then Barb jumped in. “I have an idea.”
I looked up at her full of hope and listened.
Chapter 30
Jack
Wantingto give Whitney some space, I had Penelope, the winery’s event manager, take over the gala details.
They worked directly with each other. Penelope texted me updates. Whitney didn’t. It seemed to be working well, all things considered.
All things meaning it scared the living daylights out of me.
This not doing something.
Whitney had left town before, and I couldn’t survive her doing it again.
I had to talk myself out of driving over to Savannah’s place several times today, knocking on the door until Whitney let me in.
I took no solace in her staying there alone. Fortunately, I paid the contractor a pretty penny to get the damage caused by the flooding repaired as quickly as possible.
I picked up my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I came across Savannah's phone number. Pressing call, I put the phone to my ear.
